direction.

At one time two men detached themselves from the rest of the vanguard
and proceeded to divest themselves calmly of their accoutrements. Then
followed the feverish wagging of a flag in a manner that suggested news
of greatest importance. The colonel becomes impatient as he waits for
the message to come through, and suggests mildly that there seems to be
a falling off from the standard rate.

Lyte, however, is equal to the occasion, and calls to the reading
signallers "Tell the fool to semaphore!" "He carn't," gasps the sergeant
in a horrified whisper; "He's young, an' he don't know nothink but
Morse." Lyte groans. This young lad was pressed into service a few days
previously, on the strength of his boy scout record, to fill a gap
caused by another youth who had suddenly felt the call of the wild and
gone river boating.

Eventually the message is received and the flags on the hill top
disappear as the signallers hasten to catch up with their party. It is
the type of message embraced under the heading "Negative Information"
and stated to be of importance. "Scouts report no enemy in sight as yet,
10.15 a.m.--J. HORACE SMITH (Lieut.)."

There is a feeling that we have been deceived, and we trudge on, kicking
up angry little swirls of dust. Sympathy is already beginning to be
expressed for the children of Israel in their wanderings. The music of
water falling in the distance would be music indeed, for most of the
water bottles are by now empty, and great beads of sweat are standing
out on the men's foreheads as a result. Men will not learn that drinking
large quantities of water when marching only increases their discomfort.

However, other things soon occur to divert our minds; one or two false
alarms that the enemy has been sighted are satisfactorily straightened
out, with more flag-wagging, and finally the plop-plop of blank
cartridge is heard in the distance.

The advance guard now extends in long skirmishing lines with a view to
brushing aside any slight resistance offered by the enemy. Presently we
come on the horses of our mounted brethren in little groups of four in
rear of a hill, and as we climb the hill itself we see the backs of
Smith's gallant troopers as they fire from behind bushes that would
certainly prove their death warrants on active service. The enemy are
hidden in the edge of a large and straggly wood that only two days
before was the scene of a roaring bush fire. Occasionally a man can